The present invention relates to embedded messages that create a response in a viewer, and more particularly to a method and device for producing such messages, determining if such messages are effective, and tailoring such messages to individual responses.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,911,581 discloses an interactive automatic system and technique for measuring and training mental ability. The device tests for physical reaction time, perceptual awareness threshold, attention levels, speed, efficiency and capacity of information processing by the brain by using auditory and visual stimuli. In determining a perceptual awareness threshold, the device presents figures without any preassigned specific meaning, for example circles. A test subject presses one of two keys to indicate on which side a circle appears. If a correct side was selected the presentation delay is reduced.
The images in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,911,581 do not have any specific meaning to a user of the system, and do not visually prime a user to better understand or recognize those messages below a conscious level.
German Patent No. 199 52 506 C1 discloses a system for aiding a user of a technical device, for example, an automobile, in which a picture or symbol is shown to the user for a short time so that the picture or symbol is below the conscious level of the user but above the subconscious. The system thus visually primes a user to aid the user in recognizing, for example, taillights in an automobile ahead of the user, or traffic signs or traffic lights. The reaction time of the user to such a danger is then decreased, i.e. the driver reacts more quickly. An individual user can set the duration of the time for showing of the symbols, so that they fall below the conscious level, and the system can offer an adjustment procedure to ease this setting. However, there is no feedback to tell whether the user is reacting to the visual priming and the application states that the system does not need to wait to see if a driver reacts on his or her own. Also, the symbols used are preassigned and not created by the system.
The article “Feature Detection Algorithm Based on a Visual System Model” in Proceedings of the IEEE, Vol. 90, No. 1, January 2002, discloses an algorithm for detecting visually relevant luminance features. The algorithm thus can take a captured image and provide an output with key features that permit the human brain to recognize the original image. The '581 patent, the German '506 patent and the IEEE article are all hereby incorporated by reference herein.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,208 describes a therapeutic subliminal imaging system wherein a selected semantic subliminal message is synchronized with and added to an existing video signal containing a supraliminal message. The combined preexisting supraliminal messages can be displayed on a video screen. The desired subliminal message is provided by a preprogrammed chip that is inserted by the user into a compact video processing circuit that combines the two signals for viewing. The video processing system of the invention synchronizes the video signal containing the supraliminal message with a signal containing the desired subliminal message. The system then either lightens or darkens portions of the supraliminal message, in a manner that is not consciously perceptible to the viewer, to present the subliminal message.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,221,962 discloses a method and apparatus for presenting subliminal semantic messages that allow a user to verify the content and presence of the message, and adjust the message obviousness. A VCR overlays the television signals, and the user can turn a video control to reduce the amount of attenuation and the obviousness of the overlaid images until the images become imperceptible, and thus subliminal.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,155,834 discloses a system to teach a student to instantly recognize words without having to sound them out or go through other processes such as explaining the definition of the word. The words however are not embedded and are displayed to the student for conscious recognition. A computer systematically and continuously adjusts the requirements for word perception and recognition based on characteristics and ongoing responses of the individual student in a way that increases the speed and accuracy of word recognition.
As demonstrated by tachistoscopic experiments, sensory inputs are first registered outside of conscious recognition, i.e. in the subconscious. Tachistoscopic systems may be designed to alter the dwell time of rapidly flashing images, for example. The images, as the dwell time increases, or, as the contrast increases or signal attenuation decreases, eventually enter the consciousness of the viewer.
However, many messages provided by these systems are generally designed to communicate subconsciously, and, if effective at all, are not tailored to individual responses.